Cisco Firewall Alternatives

Cisco Firewall Alternatives

A firewall is a security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic and decides which traffic, from private to private, to allow or block based on a set of defined security rules. Firewalls have been the first line of defense in network security for over 25 years. These tools create a buffer between controlled internal networks that have trusted security and untrusted external networks, such as the Internet. A firewall system can be hardware, software, or a combination of both.

The necessity of using firewall in modern computer networks

Due to the increasing number of devices connected to the network, these devices have become the first target for cyber-attacks. It is also predicted that by 2020, 30 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. These things can emphasize the need for security in the network. Therefore, the use of security equipment to protect the network is considered essential and vital for organizations, companies and government departments.

Cisco Firewalls

Cisco ASA firewall is one of the most powerful new generation firewalls (NGFW) that was introduced in 2005. Cisco ASA replaced the previous generation of Cisco PIX 500 series firewalls. Cisco ASA or Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance is not just a hardware firewall, but a tool that provides many features in one package.

Among the capabilities of this powerful firewall, we can mention antivirus, intrusion prevention (IPS), intrusion detection (IDS), VPN, providing SSL and checking the content of network packets. This firewall actively defends the network against threats and stops them before they spread to the network.

With more than one million Cisco ASAs worldwide, this firewall is recognized as one of the most valuable tools in cyber security. Cisco ASA firewall is very flexible and can be used as a security solution in networks and data centers with small, medium and large sizes and protect business data and assets.

Alternative Firewalls for Cisco

Large companies operate in the field of network security equipment such as firewall equipment, including Cisco, Fortigate, Juniper, Zenarmor, Barracuda CloudGen,SonicWall, Watchguard, Palo Alto PA and PfSense software. In the absence of Cisco firewalls, firewalls from Fortigate and Juniper companies can be used, which are very up-to-date and powerful and can easily replace Cisco firewalls in organizations’ networks. In the following, we will introduce these two products.

Fortigate Firewall

Fortigate firewalls are next-generation firewalls developed by IT security leaders, Fortinet. This issue has caused the Fortigate firewall to be recognized as an effective solution to protect against information threats.

One of the points that ensures the high level of security of this firewall is the use of security processors and FortiGuard threat information. At the same time, this makes network management easy. Fortigate hardware firewalls are offered in different types to meet the security needs of different companies. For example, the basic 20 series is optimized for small offices and retail chains, and the 1500 series is optimized for large companies.

What is the working method of the Fortigate firewall?

Fortigate firewall or Fortigate is an abbreviation of the term FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall, which is the only security system with multiple certification from ICSA Lab, with EAL4+ and NSS license (valid certificate).

One of the characteristics of the Fortigate firewall is that it provides network administrators with special features in the form of integrated attack management systems, at a reasonable cost, and through the creation of firewalls and the implementation of security profiles. These features include AntiVirus, intrusion prevention system, VPN, web filtering, AntiSpam and network traffic management.

In addition, a critical layer is added to complement antivirus software and provide it on a network basis by FortiGates. In this way, it can support the “defense in depth” strategy without increasing costs and reducing efficiency.

Fortigate Firewall key features

The FortiGate firewall has many features and benefits, some of the most important of which are:

• Security ratings: These ratings allow the best security measures to be selected.
• Enterprise-class security management: manage security assets regardless of geographic location
• Protecting critical applications: Highly scalable and ultra-low-latency segmentation to protect network segments
• Leverage threat intelligence independently and continuously: ensure protection against known and unknown attacks
• Automated Risk Assessment: Take the burden off the IT department with automated workflow and auditing features
• Security Integration: Deliver rapid and automated protection by sharing threats across the entire IT security infrastructure
• High-performance threat protection: Web filtering, antivirus and application control to keep users safe from cyber threats

Juniper Firewall

Juniper’s new cSRX series firewalls are considered as a new and complete solution in the field of virtual firewalls that provide advanced level security, automatic life cycle and policy management capabilities for service providers and organizations. By using cSRX, security professionals will be able to implement and develop firewalls for protection in fully dynamic environments.

Currently, implementing legacy systems that lack integrity built into traditional firewalls, hardware, and software will not be sufficient to protect against today’s sophisticated attacks. Juniper’s advanced security suite enables users to implement multiple technologies to meet the unique and evolving needs of today’s organizations and the ever-changing threat landscape. In addition, real-time updates ensure that technologies, policies and other security measures are always new and up-to-date.

cSRX Container Firewall provides a powerful, virtualization-based suite of advanced security services, including Unified Threat Management (UTM), Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP), and application and service control with visibility through AppSecure.

Juniper Firewall key feature

• Like SRX Series Services Gateways, it has advanced security features and stability.
• It leaves small impacts and creates very advanced security services in the form of containers.
• It supports SDN and NFV through integration with Contrail, OpenContrail and other third-party solutions.
• This technology defends against advanced threat frameworks by integrating UTM, IPS, visibility and application control for a comprehensive threat management framework.
• Enhances visibility and control of the security policy configuration and management process across virtual and non-virtual environments with Junos Space Security Director.
• Improves flexibility in management with the help of open RESTful APIs to support the integration process with Cloud Orchestration tools and Third-Party management.